Staring out to Sea
by R. Scott
Summary: Impossible, he’d said. That’s all he’d really said about her. How impossible it was for him to see her again. But there she was. 10Rose reunion through the eyes of Martha Jones.


**Wrote this a while back, set post 42. Hope you enjoy, and review :o)**

Martha slowly opened her eyes, confused and disorientated, a dull pain in the back of her head. The first thing she saw was his face. The Doctor. He was leaning over her, a look of worry in his eyes and a small frown pulling on his mouth.

"Are you O.K?" he asked, with concern.

For a moment she wasn't sure, as she tried to piece together what had lead her to being here, on the hard metal floor of the TARDIS. She looked around. The console room had a sinister green glow to it, the air was colder than normal. It wasn't right.

"What happened?" she said quietly, sitting up. The Doctor was still staring at her intently, apparently convinced she was about to drop down dead.

"Had a bit of a bumpy landing." He said, helping her onto her feet. When she was stable he gently took hold of her face and looked into her eyes, checking her over for any injuries. She remained quiet, her breathing suddenly sharp, which only caused the Doctor to worry further. "Are you alright?" he asked again, not satisfied with her lack of response.

She looked at him like he was mad.

"Of course I am." She said, glancing at the sparks and smoke that appeared from different corners, wires that lay tangled across the floor, the lack of light still disturbing her. She looked back up at the Doctor, suddenly fearful, and placed her hands on his arms "Are you?"

The Doctor looked slightly taken aback, and, removing her hands from her face, stared back at the chaos that had occurred in his ship.

"Hmmm…bit more bumpy than I thought…" he said, almost to himself, slowly walking over to the console and examining it. Lights flickered on and off as he played with various wires and kicked it for good measure. "Looks like she's still got power…probably just needs a rest, poor thing…" He stroked a hand across the console, fondly. "Give her a couple of hours, be right as rain."

Martha watched him with what could only be described as awe as he leaped forward, a grin on his face, a grin that was completely infectious and she found herself smirking at him as he started off on a ramble. "Always thought what an odd expression that was, 'right as rain', in my experience rain's never been right, always miserable, leads to floods, _completely_ ruins your day at the beach, unless of course your stuck on the moon in a hospital, I tell you, never been so glad to see rain _then…"_

Martha smiled, the darkness and the freezing chill in the air suddenly not bothering her. In what had really been such a small and insignificant amount of time, she found herself trusting this man inexplicably. With everything…her life, her home, her world. She sighed happily.

The Doctor suddenly stopped in the middle of what Martha was sure was a rant about the loopholes in intergalactic law, and looked at her questioningly.

"What?" he said.

"Nothing." She said, still smiling. "Where are we?"

He seamed to have been expecting that, because in the next second he'd grabbed his coat and was stood close in front of her again, a sly smile on his face.

"No idea. Want to find out?"

She let out a small giggle, took her own jacket from the railing, and the two of them made there way towards the door. Before opening it, Martha looked up at him again, her eyes shining.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to this." She said "Outside that door…"

"…there's a whole new world." He finished for her, smiling, and giving her hand a quick squeeze for no apparent reason.

As the door swung open, Martha stepped out ahead of him, and let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. The first thing that hit her was a strong gust of wind, and she had to squint to stop it from hurting her eyes.

"Cor!" she shouted "It's a bit blowy!"

She felt him stand behind her but she didn't hear a reply.

They were standing on a beach. The waves crashed against the shore ahead of them, and the sky was a dark, brooding gray, with no trace of sunlight. Martha took a few steps forward, rubbing her arms to try and block out the cold weather, and saw a formation of dark, grim looking rocks looming over the sand.

Looking at the barren, dull landscape, Martha felt a chill down her spine. She took a few steps back and stood once more by the Doctor's side.

"Well," she said, suddenly sensing a drop in the mood and instinctively trying to lighten it. "Not exactly the most exciting place we've ever ended up…" she turned to look up at him with a smile on her face.

What she saw caused it to vanish.

The Doctor was staring out to sea, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly, his face deathly pale, and to Martha it looked absurdly like he'd seen a ghost. His breathing suddenly seemed labored and, oddly, panic was visably written on his features.  
But his eyes…they were dark. Dark and lonely and cold, haunted and lost.

"Doctor?" Martha said quietly, after a long moment where the only sound was the crashing of the tide.

The Doctor blinked hard, and turned to face her, swallowing as he did so.

"Yes?" he said. His voice was throaty, he was trying to smile but it looked more like a grimace.

"Doctor what is it? What's wrong?"

But suddenly he cleared his throat, blinked again and let out a tired breath. "Nothing." He said flatly. "I'm fine."

Martha didn't believe him for a second, but he seemed to be pleading with her with his eyes to just let it go.

"O.K…" she said, and smiled. "Want to…check this place out? Go for a walk?"

She held her hand out for him to take, which had become somewhat of a pattern lately, walking hand in hand into the new world, each of them beaming and eagerly awaiting whatever life would throw at them next.

Except this time, it looked as though the Doctor would rather curl up into a ball inside the TARDIS than take one more step onto this beach.

Hesitantly, he slid his hand into hers, leaving Martha with a sensation that she never seemed to get tired of, and she doubted she ever would. Clearing his throat again, he smiled at her, but his eyes were hollow.

For some reason, it scared her.

"Let's go." She said.

They walked along the shore together, hand in hand. If the atmosphere hadn't been so dark, and the weather so miserable, Martha might have thought it slightly romantic. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in the salty sea air, feeling more alive than she ever had before. She'd always heard her work friends speak of the wonders of traveling the world, how it made them new people, changed there lives. They didn't know anything. She'd seen the rays of the sun burst with life before her eyes, she'd sat by William Shakespeare as he spoke a sonnet to her, she'd seen the sky line of Old New York, of New New York, she'd stood on the rings of a distant planet and stared into the eye of a raging galactic storm. She'd seen purple moons and silver skies, blue grass and pink trees. She'd saved lives of species she'd never knew existed.

She'd saved his life. She'd met the Doctor and saved his life.

And then, suddenly, as the first specs of rain began to fall, with a sharp twist in her gut, Martha realized something.

She was standing on a beach, in the rain, on what looked like Earth. Just a normal beach, normal sounds, normal smells. And yet in all her life she'd never been happier, everything seemed to be abnormally perfect and right and she wasn't sure weather she wanted to jump for joy or scream or cry. And she knew then, that it was because he was there with her, teaching her new things, showing her new stars and proving the impossible really could happen.

She'd known all along that she loved him but it was only in this moment that she realized how very, very much.

She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when she noticed something ahead of them. Someone, even, she realized. A woman.

Suddenly the two of them had stopped walking, and the Doctor was dragging her along behind him, deep and throaty sobs escaping his lips, desperation and hope on his face, his eyes locked on the mysterious beauty ahead.

Because she was beautiful, Martha saw as they got closer. She was wearing a long, flowing white dress embedded with jewels, like one would wear for their wedding day. Her blond hair whipped around her face in a whirlwind. And she was staring out to sea, oblivious to the two of them, looking unnaturally peaceful yet heartbreakingly sad at the same time. She looked like an angel. It was quite devastating.

The Doctor obviously thought so too because tears were now streaming down his face, and he'd let go of Martha's hand, like he'd forgotten she was there.

"Doctor?" she yelled against the wind, suddenly scared and not knowing why "What's happening, what is it?"

He didn't hear her. He continued towards the woman, walking slowly now. Martha could only stand and watch, her heart breaking at what happened next.

The woman stared at the Doctor like he wasn't there, her face still eerily calm. Martha, from her distance, saw her lips move but couldn't hear what she was saying. The Doctor gripped her arms suddenly and began shaking her, but she shook him away, her expression now one of anguish.

Martha heard her now, her tearful scream carried by the wind.

"_You're not real!"_

Suddenly the woman sank into the Doctor's arms, and they clung to each other, both their sobs making Martha's heart shatter, tears forming in her own eyes.

There was no doubt in her mind who this woman was now, and she felt quite sick. Impossible, he'd said. That's all he'd really said about her. How impossible it was for him to see her again.

But there she was. There they both were, reunited at last. The Doctor and Rose.

Martha's world seemed to melt away around her as the two of them shared a passionate kiss. One that seemed strangled by sobs, one that seemed long overdue, one that seemed to last forever. Martha had hoped that, one day, he might kiss her like that. One day.

Not now though. Not ever.

She tried to be happy for him. She tried.

But she'd lost him now.


End file.
